


Verikosto

by Bittersweet



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Boston Bruins, Comfort/Angst, Gen, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-08
Updated: 2015-10-03
Packaged: 2018-04-03 10:33:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4097698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bittersweet/pseuds/Bittersweet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Something is trying to kill Rask but no one else can see it. Is he losing his mind or is there more at work than meets the eye?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The ice was crisp beneath his skates as he flew across the dark surface of the pond. A cold wind cut across his face and his breath puffed out in heavy white clouds in front of him.

“Tuukka! Tuukka wait!”

He ignored his brother until his cries turned into a wail then he turned around, skating effortlessly backwards. “Go home Joonas!” he shouted back.

“Mom said you have to!”

Tuukka felt bad as he looked back at his brother, standing there unsteadily on his new skates and sounding like he was going to cry, but how was he supposed to get in any practice if he had to watch his baby brother?

“Go home Joonas,” he repeated turning back around, determined to ignore his brother. The edge of his skate caught on something and he fell forward onto the ice, sliding a short distance. He winced as his shoulder twinged from hitting the ice and he started to push himself up. The ice started to crack beneath his hands. He scrambled to his feet but wasn’t fast enough as the ice gave out underneath him, icy water closing in around him. He thought he could vaguely hear his brother calling him but he couldn’t answer and he slowly faded away into the darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

“I think he’s coming around,” a relieved voice floated through the darkness that was clinging to him.

He opened his eyes and winced at the bright light, squeezing his eyes shut again.

“Tuukka? Are you all right?”

“Let’s get him onto the stretcher.”

He opened his eyes again as he felt hands on him, helping him up and he realized he had been lying on the ice. He and the people around him were dressed like they’d been playing a game.

“I was home,” he said frowning. “What am I doing here?” He didn’t miss the worried looks of his teammates.

“Come on Tuukka,” one of the team medics said. “Let’s get you checked out and we can figure the rest of this out later.”

He knew he was being patronized but his head and shoulder hurt enough that he didn’t really care and let them carry him into the first aid room and help him out of his gear before the doctors examined him, making him do all the mandatory concussion tests, keeping him long enough that the game had ended and Chara barrelled into the room, still in his gear and acting like a mother bear.

“You’re going to be sore for a while and you’ll probably miss a few games with that shoulder but aside from that you should be fine,” the doctor said.

“He seemed a little confused on the ice,” Chara said. “Are you sure he’s all right?”

The doctor nodded. “He passed all the concussion tests; probably just a little shook up. From what I heard that was a pretty nasty hit. We’ll keep an eye on you for a couple of days,” the doctor said to Tuukka, “just to make sure but I don’t think you’ve got anything to be worried about. I’ve given you some fairly strong pain killers and muscle relaxants for your shoulder so you should get someone to drive you home.”

“I’ll take him,” Chara said instantly.

Tuukka thanked them both and stood up gingerly before following Chara to the locker room.

“I’ll just be a minute,” Chara said going to his stall and starting to peel his gear off.

The rest of the guys were still in the room and they all wanted to know how Tuukka was feeling.

“Fine,” he told them which was a bit of a lie. He felt tired, which was probably because of the pain killers and muscle relaxants, and confused, which he wasn’t going to admit too. “Did we win the game?” He was glad to hear that they had.

“Looch murdered Subban,” Marchand declared grinning. “It was beautiful!”

Lucic shrugged but was grinning. “It was totally worth getting thrown out of the game.”

Tuukka was not at all surprised to learn that after he had left the ice Subban had become the Bruins number one target, his teammates taking every opportunity to hit the defenceman.

“All right,” Chara said, finished changing. “Ready to go?”

They all said their goodbyes and Tuukka followed Chara out to the parking lot.

“Did you want someone to stay with you?” Chara asked when he stopped in front of Tuukka’s building.

“I’m fine,” Tuukka reassured him. “I promise.”

Chara still looked a little worried but he nodded. “I’m going to come by tomorrow morning.”

Tuukka nodded. “Sure.” He really just wanted to go crawl into his bed. “See you tomorrow.” He got out of Chara’s car and headed into his apartment, taking the elevator up to his floor and following up on his plan of collapsing into bed, being careful of his shoulder as he did so.

 

He woke up early thanks to the pain killers wearing off and the throbbing of his head and shoulder. He hadn’t showered since the morning before and he felt disgusting with the sweat from the game dried to his skin. He wandered into the washroom and turned the shower on, stripping out of his clothes from the night before and stepping under the warm spray. He leaned against the tiles and closed his eyes. He had been standing there for a few minutes when he heard a soft ticking sound. He opened his eyes and started to turn in the direction of the sound. Something grabbed him from behind, forcing his head up under the spray of water. He choked as water filled his nose and mouth and struggled to get free but he was held tightly, he could feel the sting of nails biting into his scalp.

“Tuukka?” he heard Chara’s voice calling him from down the hall. He reached out and knocked his shampoo and soap off of the shower shelf, hoping it would make enough noise to attract attention.

The sides of his vision were blurring and dark spots were floating in front of his eyes.

“Tuukka? Are you okay?” There was a pause. “I’m coming in all right?”

The door opened and Tuukka fell forward onto the floor of the shower, coughing violently. The water turned off and he felt a towel drop around his waist, a hand settling on his back.

“Are you all right?” Chara asked as Tuukka got the coughing under control.

“Fine,” he said, his voice coming out hoarse. He wrapped the towel about his and stood up with Chara’s help.

Chara frowned. “Are you sure? What happened?”

“I’m fine Zee,” Tuukka lied. “Really.”

Chara looked unconvinced. “Are you up for practice?” he asked and Tuukka was glad that he was dropping the subject.

Tuukka nodded. “Yeah. Just let me get dressed.”

“I’ll wait for you in the kitchen.”

Tuukka followed Chara out of the bathroom, not eager to be alone in there, parting ways at his bedroom. He stepped in front of the mirror and turned his head, running his fingers through his hair as he tried to see the places where the nails had been digging into his scalp. There was nothing there and his stomach twisted uneasily. He dressed quickly and went to the kitchen to find Chara.


	3. Chapter 3

It was pouring rain when they arrived in Anaheim two days later.

“So much for sunny California,” Marchand quipped as they walked through the drenched parking lot to the bus that was waiting for them.

“Hey,” Bergeron said quietly, dropping into step next to Tuukka. “Are you all right?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Tuukka dodged the question, avoiding looking at Bergeron. He noticed that the rest of the guys had suspiciously drifted away from them.

“Just…you know you can tell us anything right? We’re not going to judge or—”

“Yeah, great, thanks,” Tuukka said dismissively.

Bergeron sighed. “Okay.” He squeezed Tuukka’s shoulder and walked away, catching up with Chara who glanced back at Tuukka.

Tuukka growled under his breath, then hurried to catch up with the rest of the team, not wanting to get too far behind in the rain.

 

They shut out the Ducks that night, the Bruins doing everything in their power to keep the Ducks from getting the puck anywhere near Tuukka, for which he was truly grateful. It meant he didn’t have to waste energy he didn’t have, he could focus on stopping the few shots that they really needed him to stop.

They were playing the Ducks again the night after next so some of the guys wanted to go out and celebrate their win since they didn’t have to fly that night.

Tuukka turned down the invitation, regretting the decision once he was alone in his hotel room. He wished they still had roommates, which was funny since he had been thrilled when they had announced the change, not liking having to share his personal space. He closed the door to the washroom and slipped into bed, hoping he was exhausted enough that he would sleep through the night.

 

There was a woman singing in his dream. He was fairly certain he had seen her somewhere before but he wasn’t sure where. She had such a beautiful voice and she wanted him to follow her, walking away towards the ocean, still singing.

Tuukka stumbled out of bed in a fog, opening the door to his room, walking down the hall, into the elevator, down to the lobby, and out of the hotel. The sun was just up and the ocean was so close, it was the perfect time for a swim. He walked across the road and the jogging path onto the beach, his bare feet sinking into the sand, still wet from the rain. He reached the water’s edge and stopped, staring at the glimmering blue water. He stepped into the surf.


	4. Chapter 4

Bergeron had left the hotel early, taking advantage of the quiet to go for a run before the team got together for breakfast. He was nearing the hotel and slowed down to a walk to let his muscles cool down. He looked towards the ocean, breathing in the salty air with a smile. He saw someone who looked like Tuukka standing at the water’s edge. He started to call to him when Tuukka stepped into the water and something leapt out of the water and pulled him under.

“Tuukka!” Bergeron shouted running towards the water. He splashed into the surf and lunged forward, swimming hard to catch up to Tuukka who was being pulled further into the water. Bergeron wrapped his arms around Tuukka and pulled him up out of the water. There was a silver flash and a deformed face sped up through the water. Bergeron stumbled back, pulling Tuukka with him. The…thing…disappeared and Bergeron pulled Tuukka to the shore as quickly as he could.

“Come on Tuukks,” Bergeron said desperately as he laid Tuukka down on the beach. He reached for his phone to call an ambulance but stopped when Tuukka started coughing and helped him sit up instead.

“What the hell is going on Tuukka?” Bergeron asked worriedly, sitting down next to Rask who was shaking violently, and putting his arm around his shoulders.

“I think I’m losing my mind,” Tuukka said his voice muffled since his forehead was resting on his arms which were wrapped around his knees. “Something’s trying to kill me.”

Bergeron thought about the flash of the thing that had been trying to drown Tuukka. “What is it?” he asked.

Tuukka looked up in surprise. “You believe me?”

Bergeron was starting to understand why Tuukka had been looking so haggard the last few weeks. “Of course I believe you,” he said. “If it was Looch or Marchy I’d say they were pulling my leg but you? You wouldn’t lie about something like this.”

Tuukka laughed, a little shaky but sounding relieved.

“So what do we do about it?” Bergeron asked.

“I don’t know,” Tuukka admitted. “It only seems to show up when I’m alone but I can’t have someone around all the time.”

“Why not? At least until we figure out what this thing is and how to stop it.” He stood up and offered Tuukka a hand.

Tuukka looked up at him. “I don’t remember coming down here Bergy. I was dreaming and I think…I think it got to me in my dreams. How can we stop it when it can do that?”

Bergeron didn’t have an answer to that. “We’ll think of something,” he said. Tuukka didn’t look like he really believed him but he took his hand.

The two of them walked back into the hotel just as Hamilton and Krejci were walking into the breakfast room.

“What were you two doing?” Hamilton asked noticing the two of them and that they were soaking wet.

“Are the rest of the guys up?” Bergeron asked looking at Tuukka to make sure he was okay with this.

“Should be,” Krejci said. “Why? What’s up?”

“Just meet us in my room,” Bergeron answered. “Do you mind grabbing coffee for everyone before meeting us up there?”

“Yeah no problem.”

“Thanks guys.”

They stopped at Tuukka’s room first so that he could grab his stuff before going to Bergeron’s room to change. Chara and Svedberg showed up a few minutes later but Bergeron waited until the rest of the guys had gathered before telling anyone what was going on.

“Seriously?” Marchand said after they had finished explaining.

“I saw it,” Bergeron said glaring at him.

“I believe you,” Marchand said quickly. “But what are we supposed to do about it?”

“We don’t leave Tuukka alone until we figure this out,” Chara said.

“Okay but what if this thing gets desperate and decides it doesn’t care if someone sees it?” McQuaid asked. “I mean, the fact that Bergeron saw it this time kind of suggests—”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Chara interrupted. “Right now we just need to figure out what this thing is.”

“I think it’s stronger because of the ocean,” Tuukka said speaking for the first time. “I haven’t been this close to it until now.”

Chara nodded. “It definitely has some relationship with the water, we can start there. Tuukka, do you think you can get some sleep?”

Tuukka looked dubious but he nodded. “I’ll try.”

“Good. Bergy and I will stay here with you. I want the rest of you guys researching every water related thing you can think of.”


	5. Chapter 5

“Any luck?” Bergeron asked quietly when Marchand and Lucic came back to the room a few hours later.

Chara looked over from where he was sitting next to the bed where Tuukka was sleeping.

“Nothing,” Lucic said shaking his head. “But Marchy had an idea.”

“I was thinking maybe we should talk to his family,” Marchand said looking uncharacteristically nervous. “Maybe they could tell us if anything like this has every happened before or maybe suggest something else that we haven’t thought of.”

“Good idea,” Chara said picking Tuukka’s phone up off the night stand and walking over to join the rest of them. He punched in the passcode and opened Tuukka’s contacts.

“You know Rask’s passcode?” Marchand asked looking surprised.

“He gave it to me for emergencies,” Chara answered. He found Tuukka’s brother’s number and hit call, putting the phone on speaker and setting it on the table.

“What’s the time difference between here and Finland?” Lucic asked when the phone rang the sixth time without answer.

“It’s only about eight there,” Bergeron answered.

“Hello?” a voice, presumably Joonas’, answered.

“Joonas? This is Zdeno Chara—”

“What happened? Is Tuukka all right?”

The four of them looked at each other.

“He’s…” Bergeron stopped and looked at the other’s for help.

“Been better,” Lucic finished.

“We need your help figuring something out,” Chara said and explained about Tuukka’s current problem. “Can you think of anything like this ever happening before?”

“No I don’t think—” Joonas stopped, like he was thinking about something. “He nearly drowned when he was eight,” Joonas said. “I wasn’t close enough to see but I thought something pulled him under. I remember having nightmares for weeks after; our grandfather told me that it was a nakki but I didn’t have to worry because he had killed it.”

“How did he kill it?” Lucic asked as Bergeron grabbed his iPad and looked up the creature.

“Here it is,” Bergeron said passing the iPad to Chara so he could see. “The nakki does drown people but it doesn’t mention anything like what Tuukka’s been experiencing. Throwing a stone into the water is supposed to summon a dragon which scares the nakki away.”

Marchand and Lucic were reading over Chara’s shoulders.

“Not sure having a dragon around is really the better option,” Marchand quipped.

“I’m going to see if I can get a flight to Boston,” Joonas was saying.

“You don’t need to do that,” Chara said. “I promise we’ll take care of Tuukka.”

“Not to mention the fact that we’re in Anaheim,” Lucic pointed out.

“Anaheim?” Joonas said. “Promise you’ll talk to Sami about this, I’m flying down there.”

“Sami Vatanen? Why? Do you think he can help?”

“Yeah, his family has always been into magic. And he and Tuukka played together in Sochi so I’m sure he’d be willing to help.”

 

“No.”

Chara stared at the Tuukka’s phone in surprise as Vatanen hung up. Tuukka had the number in his contacts but Vatanen had not seemed thrilled to hear from him. “He hung up,” he told the others.

“What’s going on?” Tuukka asked sounding like he had just woken up.

“We’ve been looking into your problem,” Lucic explained. “Zee called your brother—”

“What?” Tuukka asked.

“—and he said since we were in Anaheim to talk to Vatanen—”

“What?!” Tuukka demanded jumping up from the bed and stalking over to them. “Who gave you permission to poke around in my personal life?”

“You did? When you asked for our help to figure out what this thing trying to kill you is?” Lucic said ignoring Tuukka’s furious glare.

“We should have asked before calling Joonas,” Bergeron said. “But you should have told us that you almost drowned when you were a kid.”

Tuukka blinked. “I forgot about that,” he said.

“How do you forget almost drowning?” Marchand asked staring at Tuukka.

“It was traumatic,” Tuukka said defensively. “I guess I suppressed it.” He looked at Chara. “Did Sami…what did he say?”

“He said no and then he hung up,” Chara said.

“Oh. If you really think he can help you might want to try calling him from a number other than mine.” Tuukka started to blush which would have been amusing if the situation had been less serious.

Chara nodded. “Your brother seemed to think so. If he won’t talk to me on the phone I’ll track him down and we’ll talk in person.”

“How’d you sleep?” Bergeron asked as Chara tried calling Vatanen back.

Tuukka shrugged. “Did Joonas say anything else?”

“Just that your grandfather said it was a nakki that tried to drown you when you were eight. But it doesn’t really match the profile of the thing that you’ve told us about.”

“We’ve still got the page open if you want to see,” Marchand offered, passing the iPad to Tuukka.

He took it and read the short article. “Some of this sounds right,” he said. “Like the woman singing.”

“Okay,” Chara said rejoining the small group. “Vatanen is willing to help and he’s on his way over here. He didn’t want too many people around though so if you guys don’t mind going and helping the others in case this idea doesn’t work out,” he looked at Lucic and Marchand.

“Sure,” Marchand said easily. “Come on Looch.”

“Call us if you run into any trouble,” Lucic said before they left the room.

“You know,” Chara said when it was just the three of them. “Vatanen was pretty easy to talk into helping you once I told him what was happening.”

“So?” Tuukka said, glaring again.

Chara just smiled and turned to Bergeron. “Do you have a deck of cards? We could play something while we wait for Vatanen to show up?”

 

It wasn’t long before there was a knock on the door and Bergeron got up to answer it. Tuukka had been pacing restlessly since Chara had said Vatanen was coming over but he seemed to have frozen at the sound.

“Thanks for coming,” Bergeron started to say as he opened the door but cut himself off at the unexpected sight of Teemu Selanne standing on the other side. “Um…”

“Can I come in?” Selanne asked smiling.

“Yes,” Bergeron said stepping out of the way. “Of course. Sorry, we were expecting Vatanen.”

“He called me after you talked to him, thought I might be more help than him,” Selanne explained walking into the room. “Hey Tuukks.”

Tuukka nodded shortly. “Teemu,” he said sounding almost annoyed to see the famous Finn.

“So Sami was a little vague on the details,” Selanne said not seeming to notice Tuukka’s terseness. “I got the gist of it but maybe you could give me a rundown of exactly what’s happening?”

Tuukka was still glaring so Chara took it on himself to explain. Selanne listened quietly, only interrupting a couple of times to ask for clarification.

“We need to bring the nakki here,” Selanne said when Chara was done.

“Really? That’s your idea?” Tuukka interrupted. “And then what, we just ask it politely not to try and kill me?”

“Tuukka,” Chara scolded. “Play nice he’s trying to help you.”

Tuukka sighed. “Sorry.”

“There’s a potion that we can use to trace it back to whoever summoned it,” Selanne continues. “This is going to depend a lot on you Tuukka, from what you’ve said the nakki will disappear if anyone else is there so it will be up to you to use the potion.”

“Fine,” Tuukka said. “Let’s just get this over with.”


	6. Chapter 6

“Are you sure about this Tuukks?” Bergeron asked hanging back as Chara and Selanne left the room.

Tuukka’s hand tightened involuntarily around the spice jar that Selanne had filled with the potion. All he had to do was sprinkle it onto the nakki. “No,” he admitted. “But I can deal with it.”

“We’re just in the hall, close enough to hear if you need help,” Bergeron repeated for the third time.

Tuukka smiled. “I know Bergy, thanks.” He took a deep breath as Bergeron reluctantly left the room and walked into the bathroom. He turned the taps on in the tub and watched as it filled with water. He hesitated then leaned forward, stretching his arm out so that his fingers brushed against the surface of the water. He let his breath out slowly as nothing happened and relaxed a little bit. Water surged up around him and he was jerked headfirst into the tub. Tuukka struggled to get his arms free as the nakki pinned him to the bottom of the tub as he stared up into the hideous scaled face. The nakki’s hands closed around his throat and Tuukka thrust his arm up out of the water, trying to dump the potion, which had become waterlogged, over the nakki. He hoped it would still work, he should have asked Selanne. He brought the jar down on the back of the nakki’s head as hard as he could with the edges of his vision turning black and struggled to free himself from the creature.

The next second the nakki was gone and he was being pulled up out of the water.

“Next time can we come up with a plan that doesn’t use me as bait?” Tuukka asked coughing as he sat in a puddle of water on the floor with his teammates as Selanne turned off the taps and pulled the plug.

“Hopefully there won’t be a next time,” Selanne said. “Let’s see if it worked.”

“Housekeeping is not going to be happy,” Bergeron said as they followed Selanne into the other room, looking back at the flooded bathroom floor and the trail of water they were leaving behind them.

“We’ll clean it up before we leave,” Chara said.

Selanne grabbed his phone from his coat pocket, where he had left it hanging on the back of a chair. The phone chimed and Selanne swore. “It worked. The summoner is here in Anaheim.”

“Did you just get a text from a spell?” Bergeron asked as they all stared at Selanne.

Selanne shrugged. “It’s the electronic age, magic had to incorporate somehow.”

“Do you know where in Anaheim?” Chara asked.

“Yes,” Selanne said. “I have an address.” He passed the phone to Tuukka who looked at the screen and swore.

 

There had to be something in here. He tossed the leather bound journal to the side and picked up the next, rifling through it. His doorbell rang and he froze, looking over at the door anxiously. It rang again. He put the journal down resignedly, got up and answered the door.

“Sami,” Selanne said sternly. “We need to talk.”

His gaze twitched past Selanne to the three Bruins. “Yeah.”

 

Tuukka followed the others into Sami’s house. He was still having a hard time wrapping his mind around the fact that Sami had been trying to kill him.

“I wasn’t trying to kill him,” Sami said as if he had been reading Tuukka’s thoughts. “I didn’t even think the spell had worked until you called and told me what was happening. I was trying to figure out how to stop it but there’s nothing in my grandfather’s journals and—”

“Sami!” Selanne interrupted sounding exasperated.

“I take it these journals are a little more involved than who he had lunch with?” Bergeron asked.

“His grandfather practiced black magic,” Tuukka explained scowling.

Sami glared at him. “So did yours,” he shot back.

“Tuukka,” Chara said disapprovingly, stretching his arm out to stop Tuukka who had taken an angry step forward. “He can’t help if you kill him.”

“How do you know?” Tuukka snarled. “Maybe it would end the spell.”

Everyone looked at Selanne who shook his head. “Doesn’t work that way.”

“I win.” Sami stuck his tongue out at Tuukka.

“Tuukka isn’t the one who decided to mess with forces beyond his control,” Selanne admonished. “Show me the spell you used, maybe I can counteract it.”

“Um, I kind of made it up myself from different spells my grandfather had in his journals,” Sami said. “I know, I know,” he said before Selanne could. “It was stupid. But I kept notes and I can show you which spells I used.”

“Let’s hope it’s as simple as that.” They followed Sami into the kitchen where the table was covered with old, leather bound journals and a blue spiral bound notebook.

“These are my notes,” Sami said reaching for the notebook but Tuukka snagged it from the table first. Sami paled. “Tuukka…”

Tuukka glared at him, there was no way he was going to let Sami hide anything about this. He flipped through the pages, skimming over the Finnish words. It only took a few sentences for him to realize that there were a few more personal thoughts in the notebook as well.

“The stuff on the spells is further back,” Sami said looking mortified.

Tuukka quickly flipped to the end of the notebook, flipping back a few pages to find the beginning of the spell notes. He ignored the look Bergeron and Chara were giving him.

“Tell me you didn’t use all of these,” Selanne said from where he was examining the pages that the journals had been open to.

“And the other pages marked with the yellow tabs,” Sami said.

“Shit,” Selanne said sitting back. “I don’t think I can fix this.”


	7. Chapter 7

“What do you mean you can’t fix it?” Chara asked slowly as they all stared at Selanne.

“Tuukka and Sami’s grandfathers were involved in a feud,” Selanne explained. “Sami’s grandfather was working on a way to control a nakki but in the margins here,” he tapped the edge of the paper, “he comments that he discarded the idea because it was too difficult to control. The pieces that Sami added to the spell, however brilliant in theory, did nothing to improve its stability. Even if we could unravel the spell I don’t think it’s doing anything to control the nakki anymore.”

“Great. So it’s just going to keep trying to kill me. Why don’t I just give up and let it?” These last weeks had been hell; he couldn’t imagine living with it for however long it took him to slip up, the nakki waiting to finish him off.

“Tuukka,” Chara said sternly, “You’ve never given up on anything; you’re not going to start now.” He turned to Selanne. “So you can’t fix this spell, what about a new spell? What about something like that throwing a stone in the water to banish it part of the myth?”

“That works because the nakki lives in one place, this one is jumping from place to place.”

“So can we trap it in one place?” Bergeron asked.

“No…” Selanne stopped. “Maybe. I might have an idea but we’re going to have to relocate. We need the advice of an expert.”

 

“I guess,” Tim, the head ice manufacturer at the Honda Center, said looking up from a spot near the home goal line that had been causing them trouble. “But why?”

“It’s for a publicity thing at the game tonight,” Chara explained.

“You’re going to need something that freezes faster if you want it ready for tonight,” Tim said.

“Any suggestions?” Selanne asked.

“How big are we talking exactly?” Tim asked standing up.

“About my size,” Tuukka offered.

“Liquid nitrogen would probably work, I guess I could rig something up.”

“That would be awesome, thanks Tim.” Selanne turned to the Bruins. “Why don’t you guys get ready and I’ll let you know when it’s ready?”

“I’m going to have to be the bait again, aren’t I?” Tuukka asked as they walked away, heading for the visitors’ locker room where the rest of the Bruins should be showing up soon.

“Cheer up Tuukks,” Chara said. “If this works it will be the last time.”

“Yeah,” Tuukka said. One way or another it would be.

 

“Ready Tuukka?” Selanne asked stepping into the locker room, Sami behind him.

His teammates fell silent and Tuuka took a deep breath and stood up, taking the canister that Selanne held out. Nodding his appreciation at his colleagues well-wishing he headed down the tunnel.

“Tuukka,” Sami said as Tuukka was about to step out onto the ice. Tuukka glanced back at Sami, waiting for him to say whatever was on his mind. “I’m really sorry about all of this.”

“Yeah,” Tuukka said. “Me too.” But it had gotten Sami to talk to him again so maybe there was a silver lining in all this. He wished it hadn’t involved things trying to kill him but still. “If this insane plan works would you like to grab a coffee or something sometime?”

Sami looked startled, a bit like a deer caught in headlights. “Yeah,” he said smiling slightly.

“Okay,” Tuukka said nodding and stepping out onto the ice, trying not to grin like an idiot. He skated out to centre ice where Selanne had had Tim set things up. He was dressed for the game, there was only an hour until the doors of the Honda Center opened, and there was something comforting about it as he faced the temporary pool that had been built. He had to admit Selanne had done a good job of designing things to make their story that this was a publicity stunt. Water started filling the pool and Tuukka squared his shoulders, trying to get into it like he would a game. He could do this. There was a ripple in the water and the nakki exploded up out of the water, lunging at Tuukka with an intensity that outstripped anything he’d seen so far.

“Shit!” He flung himself out of the way, an effortless movement on the ice. They must have done something to make the spirit mad. Skating around the pool at a dizzying speed, trying to keep the nakki off balance, he stopped abruptly, a spray of ice flying into the air around him, stabbing the sharp end of the canister hose into the back of the creature. There was a split second of relief as the end stuck firmly and liquid nitrogen started to flow from the canister as he twisted the valve. The nakki let out an ear-splitting shriek and spun around, ripping the canister out of Tuukka’s hands and knocking him to the ice with a solid blow to his head. Tuukka saw the canister hit the ice and threw himself towards it, sliding across the ice on his stomach. The gas was still leaking from the canister and he grabbed it, rolling back to his feet. The valve wouldn’t close, it must have been damaged when it hit the ice. Two quick strides had him closing on the pool and as the creature lunged at him he swung his arm up, embedding the end of the hose in the nakki’s forehead with a sickening thwack, holding it in place as the creature thrashed violently. The things movement slowed, then stopped and Tuukka found himself staring into frozen eyes. He stepped back, breathing heavily, and let the empty canister fall to the ice.

“You did it Tuukks!” Marchand shouted, hugging him.

Tuukka jumped, he hadn’t even noticed his teammates come out on the ice until they were crowded around him.

“Good job,” Chara said smiling and squeezing his shoulder.

“I admit,” Selanne said studying the frozen nakki. “I didn’t really think that was going to work.”

“What?” Tuukka demanded.

“All right guys!” Boudreau shouted. “You've done your thing now get this mess cleaned up; we’ve got a game to play!”


	8. Chapter 8

"You're a brave man, leaving that thing under the power of the Ducks," Lucic said dropping into the seat in front of Tuukka and twisting around to grin at him over the back of the seat.

"You think they're going to break it out during the playoffs?" Tuukka answered. "I think I'll take my chances."

"Good point," Lucic agreed. "Too bad we couldn't have solved it before we played the Ducks maybe you would have sucked less."

Tuukka bounced the cap of his water bottle off of Lucic's forehead. "Idiot," he said fondly. Lucic laughed and turned back around, dragging Krug into conversation.

"I'm fine Joonas," Tuukka said looking at his brother who was frowning worriedly. Joonas had arrived just in time to fly out with the team. "Selanne's going to keep working on the spell and until then the nakki's safe in cold storage."

"I guess," Joonas said not sounding convinced. "But doesn't it seem strange that it took Sami's spell so long to do anything? Sochi was months ago."

Tuukka sighed. "Joonas..."

"Sorry," Joonas said. "I'm probably overthinking this. I should just be happy that it's over and that I get to spend a few days with my favourite brother." He smiled though it looked a bit forced and turned to look out the window.

Tuukka stared at him for a moment then leaned back in his chair uneasily and closed his eyes.


End file.
